One Letter at a Time
by Narya's Bane
Summary: Everyone has a story. Some don't need as many words. Response to an alphabet challenge- canon pairings at this time.
1. Aeducan and Alistair

So! Got a personal request from a friend to try this since I have a "knack for saying too much." The challenge given to me was: 1- use a word prompt from each letter once for the character; 2- must be sequential and tell the character's story; 3- must stay in one headverse for entire piece; 4- if doing multiple characters, cannot reuse words; 5- no answers more than three sentences.

So I'm going to give it a shot. First up is cannon female Aeducan/Alistair.

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A) Anchor

Aeducan always thought that her family was the only thing that kept her here, under the ground. It turns out she was right.

B) Bones

On her way through the Deep Roads, she tries to ignore the crunch beneath her feet. She apologizes to the dead even as she takes what she must for her survival; she cannot bring herself to take more.

C) Capable

Cailan scares her. He seems too naive to be a ruler, too flippant. It is only because of Loghain that she has any faith in the battle-plan, so when he turns on them she knows the day is lost.

D) Danger

She has no understanding of magic, being a dwarf and living her life below the surface. So of Alistair says the witch is problem, she will defer to his judgement. (It isn't until months later she learns to regret this decision, and wonder what would have happened if she had just decided to trust Morrigan.)

E) Experience

The longer they work together, the better their movements become. Before long Aeducan can feel them moving on the battlefield in a dance, as intimately as lovers. The notion doesn't disturb her, but instead entices, and she wonders if she is a bad person for getting aroused during a fight.

F) Focus

They are in the Circle Tower when she actually processes that she has developed a one-track mind. She refused to move until she knew Alistair was safe.

G) Guarantee

The rose he sets in her hand is just a promise, but Aeducan knows better. He was slow to give his heart, to respond to her at all; this flower means the world, and he has placed it in her hands. As the petals fall she rolls them into beads, letting them dry until the day she can do something more with them than just hold them in her hand.

H) Heraldry

When she gave him Duncan's shield, Alistair thought thought it was the best thing she could ever gift him. When she approaches him with a different shield- the one bearing HER family crest- he knows he was wrong.

I) Improbable

Before they leave, the female Aeducan ensures that her last brother sees her kiss Alistair soundly. Hearing her brother choke on nothing in surprise was enough to make her feel as though she had gotten some revenge. It wasn't the kind of payback that most humans would appreciate but it was enough for her, and when she saw the twinkle in her lover's eye as he kissed her more deeply, she figured he understood more than she imagined.

J) Jam

"This is the last time I come rushing in to save you." Her words are not stern, because she doesn't mean it.

K) Knowledge

It isn't that Aeducan is angry. She just wishes Alistair had told her his lineage earlier, had trusted her. Then she realizes how good a ruler he would be and understands his hesitancy completely. He was right: she couldn't be trusted with this.

L) Lasting

The kisses become more frantic as they near the end of their journey. Alistair is in her arms and Aeducan commits every moment to memory, just in case she has to hold it in her mind in a hard moment. She never imagines these little instants will need to keep her company forever.

M) Marketplace

The doll looks so silly, and yet Alistair's eyes are so adorable when his eyes land on it that she has to pick it up. She claims the little toy golem is hers, but the next day it's head is sticking out of the other warrior's pack and he looks rather pleased.

N) Nightingale

"Leliana sounds like a songbird every time she opens her mouth, like a canary, or..." Neither of them finish the sentence as realization hits, and both Aeducan and Alistair associate the red-headed songstress with the signature on the note. It is a secret they will both keep as their own.

O) Organization

Cleaning up Denerim would be easier if every criminal didn't try to be part of a club.

P) Perchance

There had been a possibility, at one point, that they could have had a happily ever after. It was before the Landsmeet, and Riordan's admission. If Morrigan had offered her solution before those events, the newest Warden might have accepted. If she had anticipated Alistair better, she would have thought harder.

Q) Quarrel

The first real argument is about the dog of all things! The mabari was trying to recognize Alistair as his master as well, but the gift of dead rat was not appreciated in his bedroll. Aeducan thought it was funny; Alistair did not.

R) Rally

The people like Anora. It isn't enough to trust her, but if she can use it to their advantage Arducan will try.

S) Sovereign

Aeducan hates that the humans are so simple-minded. She was a princess of Orzamar, and probably more used to their dangerous politics than even the most masterful player of what Leliana calls the Game! Yet they will not accept her at Alistair's side, and she is upset to admit he cannot rule alone.

T) Tumultuous

The amulet lies broken again, this time at her feet. Aeducan waits until Alistair leaves to pick it up, not caring as the jagged edges cut her fingers. When she is sure he is far enough from her door she finally breaks down into tears, letting them stain the pillow; the soaked bedsheet will be the only thing he finds in the morning before the battle when he comes to apologize, her already preparing for war.

U) Unrelated

Aeducan can't help but enjoy making the Fereldans uncomfortable by putting an elf in charge of their formations. Zevran appears to appreciate the irony almost as much as the vote of confidence.

V) Victor

Even when the archdemon is dead, Aeducan cannot accept that she has won. Alistair took the decision from her, taking the final blow when she was prepared to do so, and she isn't sure she can live in a world where he does not exist.

W) Wisp

As a dwarf she knows she should not be able to sense or touch the Fade. Yet she can't help but sense something around her as she picks up the pike and lets it twirl in her fingers. She could even swear she hears Alistair laugh when she drops the blasted thing.

X) Xanthippe

It can't just be her. Anora's very demeanor grates on Aeducan's nerves, and the dwarf has come to hate her. The idea it could be what the queen represents never crosses her mind.

Y) Yell

If screaming at the sky could undo her mistakes with Alistair, he would be in her arms again.

Z) Zen

Fighting was something she had always known. In the middle of battle, Aeducan found her center; Alistair had understood that. When he died he took even that peace from her until she found someone to heal her heart.


	2. Hawke and Anders

Alright- here is the cannon f!Hawke with Anders part...

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A) Absolute

Hawke's first reaction to the city of Kirkwall is disgust. It never really dissipated. It was horrifying in many ways, even as it became home.

B) Beauty

Anders had been certain that when he took a spirit into himself he had stopped wanting the things he had before: a safe place and a pretty girl. When SHE flits into his clinic, confident and joking, he realizes not as much had changed as he thought. He would never admit it was her smile as much as her willingness to help that got him to give Hawke the map.

C) Champion

It happens a long time before the city notices, at least from what Anders can see. The Fereldans start looking to her to solve their problems first, then the natives of Kirkwall follow. It's when he realizes the viscount knows her name that he sees what she has become- and loves that she doesn't have a clue.

D) Doom

Anders has hated enclosed spaces ever since his year in solitary. The Deep Roads are even worse, the song calling just in the back of his mind to remind him of what he is. When Hawke's hand settles on his shoulder it pushes that away for a while, and the inevitable end of his road seems further away.

E) Everybody

Hawke secretly hates Wicked Grace, but sometimes even Anders shows up and those nights are worth it.

F) Famous

They've been tip-toeing around each other for two years when she ducks into his clinic after hours, the frilly dress obviously one her mother picked out. The attention embarrasses her unless she has a weapon in her hand. He's torn between telling her it's beautiful on her and peeling her out of it. (He does neither.)

G) Game

Hawke plays chess with the knight-captain on Fridays. Even after she brings him the information on Templar rotations as a result, Anders can't help but hate Cullen for it just a little.

H) Home

Hawke feels so weary when he walks her to the door, and she shakes her head in a refusal to enter. She is extremely relieved when he guides her to Lowtown without pressing the issue. When she finally manages to drink herself numb and drown out the images of her mother's death, it is Anders who she finds at her side and she realizes she may need to redefine a certain word in her head.

I) Interest

Anders had been afraid he'd run her off. When she tells him she will leave her door open tonight, he is relieved to know he was wrong.

J) Justice

Hawke doles out life and death so easily that Anders sometimes wonders which of them is bonded to the spirit. It seems intrinsic to her, and she makes it look so easy! In a weak moment, he confessed to her that she would have been the better host

K) Kitten

Isabella using the nickname for Merrill throws Anders for a loop. It isn't that the name doesn't suit the little dalish elf- it's just that the pirate's tone is exactly the same as Hawke when she calls him by the same name, and he has to do a double-take.

L) Loophole

Hawke would never give one of her friends over to the qunari. It helps that Isabella has never professed to be one.

M) Marriage

Hawke knew it bothered Anders far more than it did her. She would be happy to stay just like this, at his side in mutual quarters and madly in love, but she knew he longed for more. Years later, she'll wonder if that was the affront the Chantry had made that finally pushed him over the edge.

N) Noose

Hawke wakes up gasping several times a week. Usually she ends up crying as well. Anders just holds her when it happens, and knows he can add no more to her shoulders no matter what.

O) Omnipotent

Hawke has a way of grabbing his hand just before he writes the words that would damn them all in his manifesto, as if she knows...

P) Planning

If Anders had thought it through better he wouldn't have needed her help. Justice hates that thought, actually, and points out how much it took to make sure she was involved. Anders has to agree, but he did it because he wanted to give her a chance to find out what was going on under her roof.

Q) Quickly

Hawke looks up into the dragon's maw and her only thought is "I'm sorry." She had been so mad at him today she ran off without taking him with her, and she just knows this is going to give him a lot of work to do if she survives at all. It had all just happened so fast she couldn't stop it.

R) Running

There isn't enough magic in Kirkwall to stop him from saving Hawke. He's back in their room at her side before Varric can even explain what happened, and healing her in the same instant he asks what attacked her. The dwarf sees one moment he could never write: nobody would believe a mage could move that fast.

S) Stutter

When Hawke reminds him that her father studied fire magic the next word sticks on his tongue. It is a subtle sign that she knows what he is doing with the materials she gathered for him, and he can hardly believe she trusts him enough not to ask any more questions.

T) Tomorrow

Kirkwall is quiet that night. Nobody knows what he set in motion, what he has been planning. But that is for the morning. Right now, he wraps Hawke in his arms and makes love to her as though it is the last time- afraid that it truly is.

U) Ulterior

It doesn't matter if he believes she sided with the mages for the good of Kirkwall, or some higher plan. Her motive is much simpler, but easy to lose in Anders' grand scheme. It has only ever been for him.

V) Vibrant

The red of blood is stark against Kirkwall's stones. It makes them both sick to see what has become of the city, and makes a stark contrast from the facade the town puts forward.

W) White

Her hair is a shock of frost, brilliant and gleaming. The way she keeps it perfectly braided is amusing, but it also means he is the only one who gets to run his fingers through it and revel in the softness. It spills across the black and red of the sheets deliciously, and the very sight pushes Justice away every time.

X) Xiphihumeralis

It is irresponsible to keep a pet when they are on the run themselves. Even so, when she hands him the little grey ball of fluff and it mews Anders is certain that they can find room. Hawke names it Purrcival, and before the week is out he has a cap with a feather.

Y) Yammering

Merrill wasn't left behind for any reason except that she wouldn't. Stop. Talking. Hawke feels bad about it, but it had gotten to the point where if she didn't Anders was going to hurt her. That seemed like a worse idea.

Z) Zeal

Hawke really hated Corypheus, or at least blamed him. Anders tried to stop her, wanted to keep her from harm, but her spirit was far too strong and she managed to outplay him at every turn until she was simply gone. When he received Varric's letter he wishes he'd had the strength to match her fury and vows to find her- somehow.


	3. Lavellan and Solas

And Lavellan/Solas... Others by request if requested...

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A) Aether

She was not a mage. The Fade was a mystery to her, but sometimes when he cast she felt the pulse in the anchor, reaching out, and wondered if that was what he felt in places the veil was thin. Only later would Lavellan wonder why it didn't react to the magic of others the same way.

B) Brilliant

It is the fact that she questions everything, wonders about everything, that first captures his attention. Her intellect makes her a curiosity, and he tries to convince himself it is nothing more.

C) Capital

The cleric threatens to hang her. It is never going to happen.

D) Dungeon

Things were much simpler when she was a prisoner, Lavellan realizes. She would wish for the simplicity of those times, for the ease of a lack of choice, but then she thinks about where that would have led and knows the alternative would not have sufficed.

E) Ethereal

Sometimes Solas is like a spirit himself, always flitting out of her reach. Lavellan has no way of knowing he feels the same way about her.

F) Future

Lavellan never tells anyone what she saw, but he has come to expect that. That Dorian refuses to answer questions as well tells him more, and Solas stops asking. He is thankful that he picked up on the truth and went into her nightmare, because it desperately needed a guard.

G) Gamble

He refuses to play cards with Varric; it is too easy for the wolf to come out in a game of bluffing. When he finds out Lavellan plays to lose and bets her clothing, he starts attending anyway.

H) Heretic

Solas had promised himself not to worship anyone ever again. When she kisses him in the Fade, he wonders if a mortal woman would count.

I) Inconsistency

As a woman, it should be her prerogative to be ever-changing! But he is like the storm, and her own mood swings pale in comparison to the inconstant weather of his attentions.

J) Jagged

Her fingers finally run along his neck, his chest, and she feels the wolf jaw hanging there. The prickling at her fingertips almost connects a gap in her logic, but then his lips crash into hers and the thought is lost to the sensations.

K) Kiss

Of course he hadn't forgotten their actions in Haven. Everything that occurred in the Fade was imprinted on his memory, and he couldn't let it go. When he held her again, it put that memory to shame.

L) Looming

The danger of Corypheus is around every corner, palpable in everything that is done in Skyhold. Knowing there may be no tomorrow for any of them is the only thing that allows Solas the courage to fall in love with Lavellan in spite of his fears. In the end, he isn't sure which danger is more palpable.

M) Moping

Lavellan fears for her clan. Solas does what he can to ease her fears, but he knows it will never be enough.

N) Nightmare

Lavellan and Hawke both see spiders. Stroud admitted that in his eyes, they were the betraying Wardens. When she asked Solas, he refused to answer. He didn't think that she would understand him saying it was the elves of the dalish clans blaming him for his mistakes.

O) Operation

"The situation is delicate," Leliana explained, but that was a definite understatement. Between the three factions in Orlais, Lavellan wasn't sure which was the least problematic. It was like cleaning a wound while trying to leave the needed tissue with no training as a healer, and she hated that feeling.

P) Performance

"You did well at the Winter Palace."

"For a Dalish?"

When Josephine corrects, "For anyone," Lavellan finally feels hope that the future of her people may change.

Q) Quarry

Lavellan was a huntress; once she had her eyes on her prey, they were going down. That same kind of thought went into her romance, as though she was hunting Solas. It wasn't until their dance in the Winter Palace that she truly realized she had caught him.

R) Radiance

It's easy to see how people can call her the Herald of Andraste. She shines both in and outside of the Fade, and it is impossible not to be drawn to her light. Yet it's the moments when she shines just for him, alone in her bedroom or a shared tent, that he treasures the most.

S) Step

Lavellan is ahead of them, and there is nothing he can do to tell her to stop this. When she tells Morrigan to drink, he feels as though a weight is lifted from his chest, and the gap between them is a bit lighter.

T) Truth

Her beauty would put the women of Arlathan to shame, her smile defeat the great lords instantly. He wants to tell her, but when he tries to speak all he can say is "Ar lasa mala revas." The moment is over, and his fate is sealed.

U) Unwanted

Lavellan is so angry she can barely see straight when she returns from the final battle. If he did not care, he could at least have left her alone! Now she is in ruins, and no other man will ever be enough.

V) Valiant

Ten dragons later she is being celebrated. Lavellan wishes she was no longer standing.

W) Winter

As she lies in the frost and snow, Lavellan almost laughs for the first time in months. Solas should have remained: if he cared for her, he might have helped, and if not he could at least have seen a sight he once said would be fascinating. Hakkon had finally succeeded in dominating her focus.

X) Xenophobia

They all still look at her face first, as if her lack of markings makes her something less. She wants to scream sometimes, but she has never considered having them replaced. This was the only gift Solas ever gave her and she would keep it forever.

Y) Yours

Decades after he left, Solas hears her voice in every breeze. "Ma vhenan." And he knows he agrees.

Z) Zephyr

She knows that she is dying, and for all she has done for Thedas there is nobody at her side. Then she feels the response in the Anchor and the ripple in the wind that tell her she is not alone. When she opens her eyes to see the wolf Lavellan finally understands, and her last words are of forgiveness.


End file.
